Archive for the 'Daz Dillinger' Tag Under 'Soundcheck' Category

DJ Quik at Rock the Bells in San Bernardino this past August. Photo: David Hall, for the Register

A sold-out Club Nokia boasted a pre-Thanksgiving event billed as the first-ever West Coast Feast, headlined Wednesday night by three of the most prolific contributors to that scene: Tha Dogg Pound, Too $hort, and a reunited Suga Free and DJ Quik. In what appeared to be a healthy mix of cholos from East L.A. and hipsters from Silverlake, there was slim chance of finding anyone unenthusiastic about catching one or all of those marquee names. This night, anyway, Club Nokia was no place for the casual gangsta rap fan.

Revered for his MC talents by legends like Eminem and Notorious B.I.G., Kurupt celebrated his 40th birthday onstage alongside Daz Dillinger, as Tha Dogg Pound opened with “What Would U Do,” and the bass-heavy classic stirred the crowd something fierce. Bouncing from hood anthems (“Cali Iz Active”) to recognizable radio features (Snoop Dogg's “Ain't No Fun”), the set culminated in a sincere thank-you from the duo, who noted that “next year we goin' on 20 years.”

Junior-high novelty aside, when a capacity crowd can sing every word of every song almost two decades later, with virtually no radio play ... well, frankly, Tha Dogg Pound shouldn't have opened this show.

The strength of the night took a major nosedive when Too $hort affiliate Big Greedy and Greedy Entertainment took the stage after that strong start. Resorting to failed tropes -- “make some noise if you smoke weed,” “where Mexico at?” -- only magnified the parody this shameless plug made of West Coast rap.